9600xt problems - Ati virgin!

Just bought a 9600xt - sapphire 256mb

removed nvidia drivers using add/remove programs
removed nvidia card
off
installed 9600xt
on
installed drivers

Problem is the desktop is fine, anything 2d is fine, soon as I run a game I get major lockups leading to a crash, best gameplay time so far is 5 seconds on UT2003.

I haven't overclocked, and I'm not trying ridiculous resolutions or detail settings, just the same as I was using on a gf4 ti4600.

Have tried standad driver settings, and altering a few variables with no difference in the end result, I'm using the 3.8s that came with the card.

Do I have a faulty card?

Only other thing I can think is some residual nvidia registry entries or dlls, what's the easiest way to remove these without deleting necessary files but still making sure I get the lot?

I'm using an athlon 2400+ running xp pro, 8x agp mobo, latest 4in1 drivers, 1gb ram.

First time with Ati so I'm a bit lost really, card is only 1 day old so no problem returning if faulty.

Any help/thoughts gratefully received....

you need to get driver cleaner and remove all of the old Nvidia drivers. this is probably your major problem. I'd also remover the ATI driver and then do a reinstall

Also don't use the 3.8 cats they have been known to overheat cards. That could possibly be your problem. But also do get a driver cleaner program.

Thanks for the tips guys, unfortunately it didn't solve the problem, however switching to 4x agp does.

Obviously not an ideal situation since I now have an 8x agp card running on an 8x agp mobo at 4x agp - anyone know if mobo flash might help? as I say I already have latest via drivers.

I assume that since I only use 1024x768 on my puny monitor I'm not gonna notice too much of a performance hit on 4x agp anyway.

4X to 8X AGP makes almost no difference. Today's video cards just don't use that much bandwidth. You might try 8X AGP with "Fast Writes" off -- some motherboards don't perform stably with it on when dealing with ATI cards. A BIOS flash may help if there is a newer one available.

Good luck, and:

WELCOME TO THE FORUMS!!!

Hi friends, i have the same problem with a 9700 pro and a IC7 MAX 3.
Which one is the culprit ?
i Knows is almost no difference, but since you pay for a 8X card, you should run.
cheers

You'll just have to try it both ways -- my motherboard is fastest at 8X with Fast Writes off, but yours might run faster at 4X with it on. You may also be able to push your motherboard a few Mhz higher on the FSB at 4X AGP, which is another factor to consider. It's really hard to say without just doing the testing.